Joe Spicer from Hamilton is thrilled with the results of his GoGetta Kelpie Stud Working Dog sale hosted on AuctionsPlus.
The renowned Kelpie breeder and trainer, of Muster Dog fame, achieved the best national average at auction in the past 12 months - $13, 276 - with a 100% clearance.
The auction topped at $28,000 for GoGetta Bardy, which sold to a buyer from Cowra, NSW.
It attracted 60 active online bidders, 17 of which were successful and there were 405 online bids for the 19 lots sold.
This compares to his 2022 sale which topped at $28,000 and averaged $17,733, attracting 60 active online bidders, 11 of which were successful. There were 304 online bids for the 15 lots offered.
He said having a good average price was more important to him than reaching top price records.
“For me it’s more important to have dogs that are affordable, a good average and 100% clearance,” Mr Spicer said.
“I’m rapt, it couldn’t have gone any better.”
He delayed this sale to give his dogs more time to mature and to coincide with the holiday time period, when farmers had more time for online dog shopping.
“We were also very lucky with the rain and that’s helped too,” he said.
“The online auction opens up the market more over a greater distance.
“You really get a gauge of what the market values are at the time and this sets a benchmark for selling them privately.”
He said about 50% of buyers were repeat clients, including Gemma Cripps, from Yalgoo, in Western Australia who snapped up two bitches in the auction - GoGetta Mercy and GoGetta Bluree.
Mercy, who fetched $11,000, was described as a smart steady all-round sheep and cattle dog, with a training status of started.
Bluree, who fetched $10,750, and is likely to be renamed to Blur, was described as a gutsy and tenacious little firecracker who’s reserved and intelligent nature is the opposite to her positive style of work. She has a training status of lightly started.
“We’re very much looking forward to getting them home,” Ms Cripps said.
“We’re on a cattle and sheep station in Yalgoo and we’ve got brahman cattle that can be a little bit tricky.
“Staff are hard to find at the moment, so dogs are an easier fix.”
She was pleased the dogs were offered by online auction again, as it meant she was able to participate from a distance.
Mr Spicer said he had been battling away over 30 years in the industry and it was great to finally being paid for all that work.
He said 42 bidders missed out and a lot have contacted him directly since to ask about the next sale, which is he planning for November 2024.